decapitation
Use Decapitation in a sentence
ɪˌteɪtBased on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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decapitate (dɪˈkæpɪˌteɪt) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| (tr) to behead | |
| [C17: from Late Latin dēcapitāre, from Latin | |
| decapi'tation | |
| —n | |
| de'capitator | |
| —n | |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
| a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare. |
| decapitate (dɪˈkæpɪˌteɪt) | |
| —vb | |
| (tr) to behead | |
| [C17: from Late Latin dēcapitāre, from Latin | |
| decapi'tation | |
| —n | |
| de'capitator | |
| —n | |
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decapitate
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decapitation de·cap·i·ta·tion (dĭ-kāp'ĭ-tā'shən)
n.
The removal of a head, as of an animal, a fetus, or a bone.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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decapitation
a mode of executing capital punishment by which the head is severed from the body. The ancient Greeks and Romans regarded it as a most honourable form of death. Before execution the criminal was tied to a stake and whipped with rods. In early times an ax was used, but later a sword, which was considered a more honourable instrument of death, was used for Roman citizens. Ritual decapitation known as seppuku was practiced in Japan from the 15th through the 19th century. One symbolic consequence of the French Revolution was the extension of the privilege of beheading to criminals of ordinary birth, by means of the guillotine.
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